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COMMEMORATING SIGMUND FREUD
Humanistic Jews
celebrate Freud on his 150th
birthday
Sigmund Freud
(1856-1939), the controversial, provocative founder of psychoanalysis,
revolutionized the way we think about everything from art and literature
to childrearing. Many of the terms and concepts that seemed so
revolutionary in his time – oedipal complex, narcissism, sibling
rivalry, the role of the unconscious, defense mechanisms – have become
so ingrained in our imaginations that they are taken as universal
truths.
The Society for
Humanistic Judaism (SHJ), the organization
for Humanistic Judaism in North
 America,
announces a year-long commemoration of this pivotal figure in Western
thought.
Humanistic congregations and communities
throughout the United States and Canada are commemorating Freud with
lectures and ceremonies, discussions and debate.
Honoring Freud are congregations in
Detroit, Washington D.C., Boca Raton, San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles,
greater New York, San Diego, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Westchester,
Rochester, Ithaca, Phoenix, Connecticut, North Carolina, and Oregon.
These celebrations culminated in programming at the biennial
SHJ conference, April
28-30 at the
Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Featured speakers on
Freud were Catherine Reef, award winning author of Sigmund Freud:
Pioneer of the Mind, and Al Averbach, noted San Francisco author and
editor According to
Rabbi Sherwin Wine, founder of Humanistic Judaism,
Freud is one of the great
heroes of Humanistic Judaism. He boldly affirmed that human dignity
required ... the assumption of human
self-reliance and human responsibility. … He emphasized that both the
universe and human nature feature serious disharmonies. Our desires and
our needs are not always compatible. The struggle for human happiness is
not easy.
Society for
Humanistic Judaism Conference
Cambridge, Massachusetts
April 29, 2006
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“Creating a Biographical Portrait of Sigmund Freud”
Presenter: Catherine Reef
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At the SHJ Conference in Cambridge, MA, Catherine Reef discussed how she developed a literary portrait of one
of the most famous figures of the twentieth century,
a man whose
Jewish heritage shaped his identity and who lived
according to humanistic Jewish values. Ms. Reef offered insight into how she placed Freud in his time,
explored his personality, and strove to give him
life on the page.
Catherine Reef has
written more than thirty-five books for young people
and adults, most of them on biographical and
historical subjects. She received the 2001 Sydney
Taylor Award from the Association of Jewish
Libraries for Sigmund Freud: Pioneer of the Mind.
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“All in the Family: Freud,
Moses, Monotheism”
Presenter: Al Averbach
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Secular Humanistic Jews, who affirm that a Jew is someone who identifies
with the history, culture, and future of our people,
hold Freud up as
one of our most imposing modern figures. With
Moses and Monotheism, Freud brought his theories
directly to bear on Jewish experience: what it means
to be a Jew and how to characterize the Jewish
psyche.
Al Averbach has been
a member of Kol Hadash in the San Francisco Bay Area
since 1993 and a professional editor at the
University of California and affiliated institutes
since 1977.
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